Althouse: "'Now and Then' just kind of languished in a cupboard."

November 2, 2023

"'Now and Then' just kind of languished in a cupboard."

Says Paul, at 5:19:

"Wow. This is it. Now, it's a Beatle record."

ADDED: Here's the song:

48 comments:

Dave Begley said...: Thank you Ann Althouse!; 11/2/23, 6:55 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: The song doesn't sound like much, and all this video dick-sucking really turns me off.; 11/2/23, 7:10 AM
Scotty, beam me up... said...: If this song makes it to the Top 10, I imagine that this will be a record that won’t be broken for the amount of time from the first Top 10 song to the last song by a music act. Almost 61 years. I am amazed that this is happening with John gone for almost 43 years and George now gone for almost 22 years. I have been around from their first songs recorded and released to their last. I am currently listening to The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM waiting for “Now and Then” to be released and played for the very first time. Thank you, JPG&R, for making music that always brings a smile to my face.

Scotty; 11/2/23, 7:50 AM
cassandra lite said...: Watched the whole thing waiting for the song. What a beat. But then again, the snippets played suggested this wouldn't have made it onto any Beatles record.; 11/2/23, 8:00 AM
Birches said...: I couldn't believe how old man Paul's voice sounded. I think he recognizes his mortality and wanted to go back to the beginning. Kind of beautiful.; 11/2/23, 8:02 AM
rehajm said...: Let’s extract John’s voice from that scratchy cassette. I think there’s old recordings of George playing guitar- I’ll copy that. Now we’re ‘all’ on the record…; 11/2/23, 8:10 AM
guitar joe said...: Sigh. Love the Beatles, but how many more expanded reissues and other such nonsense must we endure before it tarnishes their legacy? I have both the singles released at the time of the Anthology series, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," in addition to all three Anthology releases on CD and vinyl. Never play them. The Jackson documentary was interminable. Chop it in half and it would still have made the same points and still have been too long. Last year, Apple used Jackson's sound innovations to do a remix of Revolver. Sounded fine, I guess, but the original was technologically impressive in 1966. That was part of what made it exciting, and it caused other bands to change how they made records. To "improve" that is to alter history and to downplay a real achievement. Same with these post Beatles/Post Lennon singles. Age gracefully, for crying out loud.; 11/2/23, 8:16 AM
AMDG said...: From the snippets I heard it seems like a nice idea marred by a bad song.

The song reminds me of “Imagine” (a song I hate) in that lyrics of hope are wrapped in a dirge like composition. I hear it and all I can think about is a guy walking around on a dank and grey day contemplating suicide.

A more useful exercise would have been to remix “Free as Bird” and “Real Love” to enhance Lennon’s vocal. The poor quality of the recording of his voice on those songs made them unlistenable.; 11/2/23, 8:40 AM
rhhardin said...: I wasn't even interested in Beatles music when it came out. Hard Day's Night (1964) was good though, especially the very clean grandfather. Droll would be the genre.; 11/2/23, 8:54 AM
Iman said...: Now and then I’ll be reminded just how much that song sucked.; 11/2/23, 9:08 AM
wild chicken said...: So much talk before it starts...movie people don't really dig music that much.; 11/2/23, 9:27 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I really appreciate the comments from Scotty and Guitar Joe (for the record I'm an old SG man myself) and want to add to what Birches wrote:

I couldn't believe how old man Paul's voice sounded. I think he recognizes his mortality and wanted to go back to the beginning. Kind of beautiful.

The wife and I were not surprised at how energetic and awesome he was about 15 years ago when we saw him on tour. However, we recently watched the Dave Grohl documentary Sound City (highly recommended to music enthusiasts everywhere especially boomers like me) and was kind of blown away by the jam session at the end with Sir Paul and mostly Foo Fighters. The way they "wrote" a song and arranged it extemporaneously and the energy he got from it and put out really impressed me. Go Paul Go! Getting older now I really am only ache-and-pain-free during the few hours I spend jamming with the band in person each week. It's my version of a runners' high, all-natural and damned exhilarating.; 11/2/23, 9:34 AM
s'opihjerdt said...: I once got to watch a sneak preview of "The curse of the Pink panther," a bad movie composed of scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. But Peter sellers was dead and wasn't going to help people make money.; 11/2/23, 9:38 AM
Oligonicella said...: Scotty, beam me up:
with John gone

Don't forget his handbag Yoko. She would have been at the recording too.

George

Yes, the instrumental heart.

But, with both of those men gone, I can't consider anything new as from "The Beatles".; 11/2/23, 9:40 AM
Eva Marie said...: What a wonderful way to start the morning. Thanks.; 11/2/23, 9:40 AM
Butkus51 said...: In what way was this song neccesary?

On a scale of 1 to 10 of Beatle songs it doent even get a 1.; 11/2/23, 9:44 AM
Two-eyed Jack said...: Nice video. Shame about the song.; 11/2/23, 9:45 AM
Christopher said...: Different people like different things. I teared up at this teaser, and can't wait to hear the single.

When you get older time passes more quickly, so I was stunned to realize how long ago George passed away. John, for some reason, had already been filed in my long-ago aisle. And yes, Paul, and his voice, are God bless him showing their age. I think when Paul and James Taylor pass away, I'll feel just about buried myself.

For the naysayers, hey, at least they're not doing a hologram tour!; 11/2/23, 9:48 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Excellent. Thank you for posting, Ann.
Brought tears to my eyes.; 11/2/23, 9:51 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Anyone who doesn't like the Beatles is seriously demented.; 11/2/23, 9:52 AM
Will Cate said...: Another sleepy, slow tune that sounds exactly like what it is... demo stuff left in the can. Even the mid-90s "Real Love" was better, and that wasn't much of a song either.; 11/2/23, 9:54 AM
Aggie said...: I don't want to take away anything from the devotees that like the song, glad you all enjoy it, but..... Maybe there's a reason it's been in the cupboard.; 11/2/23, 10:19 AM
Joe Smith said...: Post Beatles I'd rather listen to George, but Ringo is the best Beatle.

The man looks like he's never had a bad moment in his life.

He is the living embodiment of 'contentment.'

Good for Ringo.; 11/2/23, 10:30 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'The song doesn't sound like much, and all this video dick-sucking really turns me off.'

That's what porn is for : ); 11/2/23, 10:30 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Christopher said...

"For the naysayers, hey, at least they're not doing a hologram tour!"

Paul has already performed a song "with John" that way. I don't think he'll be doing it again.; 11/2/23, 10:50 AM
Kakistocracy said...: My guess is that most Beatles fans weren't expecting another Strawberry Fields or Day in the Life. It was a rough draft on a cheap cassette recorder. There was no collaboration during the song's composition, which is what made the Beatles the Beatles. Enjoy the song for what it is — a trip down memory lane.; 11/2/23, 10:53 AM
Iman said...: I think the song is horrible, and I love the Beatles.

We did see Ringo and his All-Star Band in 2016 or thereabouts and it was definitely a thrill.; 11/2/23, 10:58 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The song isn't up to today's pop-cult Disney Taylor Swift standards. That is true.; 11/2/23, 11:02 AM
Ambrose said...: Didn’t they do this once before 20 years ago or so. Free as a Bird or something like that? Maybe in the future, each generation will have its own last Beatle song.; 11/2/23, 11:05 AM
guitar joe said...: Gave the song a listen. Not bad, but it sure sounds like a McCartney solo track.; 11/2/23, 11:09 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Wait a minute… Did Milli Vanilli steal a Beatles song?

Girl you know it’s true…

No. It was a tribute.; 11/2/23, 1:13 PM
Oligonicella said...: Joe Smith:
... but Ringo is the best Beatle.

He was also the only one to make a good movie Caveman.; 11/2/23, 1:31 PM
Ficta said...: The B-side is the single version of "Love Me Do". Clever.

It's a bit of harmless fun. A lovely bit of nostalgia. And it sounds slightly less "Jeff Lynne" than the last two from the Anthology release era (and mind you, I'm a huge Jeff Lynne fan).; 11/2/23, 2:24 PM
Eva Marie said...: A double dose of happy today. Thanks.; 11/2/23, 2:31 PM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: What's surprising is that the record doesn't sound anything like the Beatles. After listening to it a couple of times, it sounds to me like it could be a 1970s album cut from a group like Ambrosia. Less charitably, I could say it sounds like an album cut from Julian Lennon; marked by a good musical idea that doesn't seem to really go anywhere.

It seems much more like a good illustration of what a competent arrangement and production can do to a not-very-strong song than a good illustration of the quality of music put out by the Beatles.

I still like it, however.; 11/2/23, 2:50 PM
technochitlin said...: Good Lord, what a bunch of grumpy old geezers you are! So habituated at responding in anger you can't even enjoy a song from long ago that's been rediscovered.

Glad I'm not so bitter (though just as old).; 11/2/23, 3:11 PM
Narr said...: Meh. (The song; I haven't watched the interview(?).); 11/2/23, 3:26 PM
planetgeo said...: Just heard the single after seeing the fascinating video of the back story. And I totally disagree with some of the jaded comments here. I think it's brilliant. And haunting. The title is evocative on so many levels. The technology that enabled this multi-era blending of the living and the dead to have a "last collaboration" is pure genius. And the melancholy lament of the theme really reverberates across years with emotions and images.

I guess you have to have lived, loved, and lost many lifetimes to get this. I get it. Really feel sorry for those who don't. Or can't.; 11/2/23, 3:47 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Wow. Its a beautiful song. I got goosebumps listening to it.

This might be the best posthumous release of all time.

The only one I can think of coming close is Michael Jackson "Love Never Felt so Good". It was fine, for Michael, but it was derivative of his previous works.

This Beatles song sounds completely original.; 11/2/23, 4:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The Wikipedia page claims Harrison hated the song. That that was the real reason for not getting it done when Harrison was alive.; 11/2/23, 4:50 PM
Clyde said...: Sometimes things languish in a cupboard for good reason.; 11/2/23, 6:26 PM
Narr said...: The people who like it really really like it.

It's still meh to me.; 11/2/23, 7:49 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: I haven't listened to it all the way through yet but my first impression is that it is as unimpressive as those two other songs released after John died (Free as a Bird and whatever).

Paul seems to be enjoying the winter of his life. I took my daughter to his concert in Miami about 15 years ago. It was amazingly good - four hours long, multiple encores, great sound, good mix of songs. There are SO many previously unseen (by me) broadcasts (now in video or digital formats) of the Beatles performing, available online, in those shorts they call Reels or maybe also on Instagram. The energy. Not every performance was great but it brought back memories of a happier time.

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN

Did I mention The Beatles are my favorite groups? First album I ever bought (Meet the Beatles) and first 45 (She Loves You) with my own money, instead of my sacred comic books. We watched them on The Ed Sullivan Show and even now, those performances bring a chill to my spine and a smile to me face. A happier time for me, no worries.; 11/2/23, 8:26 PM
Robt C said...: @Narr "This might be the best posthumous release of all time."
That's like being named the tallest guy at a dwarf convention.
I enjoyed the video, with the splicing of various Beatles epochs.
The song? Underwhelmed.
The technology to produce it? Amazing.; 11/2/23, 8:36 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I listened to "Now And Then" again, with a critical ear, and, while the recording is an amazing piece of production work, for starting from an ancient demo on a cassette (damn, that shit is Steely Dan clean) it mostly sounds like another Sean Ono Lennon release, trying to write an original work in the style of his dad, with the AI adding those almost-creepy Beatle-like/George Martin-sounding touches here and there.

The song, and thus the "group" idea, ever achieve lift off, mostly because the piece is locked into the meter and feel that John casually laid down, previous to Paul getting his mitts on it. You can't make a song on a tape "move" the way a group of people, playing a song together, do, naturally. Sometimes, but not usually. The tempo advances when the musicians get really going, which just can't happen here. What's on the tape is as fast or slow as it goes, with all the movement you're gonna get. McCartney, declaring this coma a real Beatles song, is just exhibiting more of the cloying chirpiness that drove the others insane and killed the dream. He is Maxwell, with his silver hammer, and it's embarrassing.

This is NOT a Beatles song, and John would've said so. It's a half-ass experiment in trying to bring his dead body of work to life, that, at best, got the corpse to open its eyes,...really slowly. Which is disturbing, especially if you have feelings for him. Under these circumstances, the only way "Now And Then" would've been able to achieve true greatness is If the AI had been inspired to add a middle eighth that, to Paul's surprise, was a new re-working of "How do you sleep?"; 11/2/23, 9:48 PM
M Jordan said...: John’s voice is tinny. They didn’t get it right. AI sucks.; 11/3/23, 6:45 AM
guitar joe said...: " the recording is an amazing piece of production work, for starting from an ancient demo on a cassette"

What struck me immediately was how flat the final recording is. I bought a hi-rez download from Qobuz (24/96) and it didn't sound any better than the HD stream from Amazon. It is an impressive technical feat, but everything sounds reserved, and the music has no soundstage depth. The background vox and strings sound a little mushy, and a lot of the instrumental details that should ring out--George's rhythm guitar work, for instance--barely registers. The 2022 remix of "Love Me Do" that is the "B" side of this single sounds so much livelier and fresh, and it's a 1962 recording.; 11/3/23, 8:08 AM
Narr said...: Robt C. at 8:36PM references me, and makes it appear to be a quote, but I didn't say anything like that.

Just to be clear.; 11/3/23, 10:34 AM